


Take Me Out (And Take Me Home)

by capeofstorm



Series: The Beat of Disillusion [2]
Category: Alex Rider - Anthony Horowitz
Genre: Fake Character Death, M/M, Returning Home
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-19
Updated: 2020-08-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:22:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25995181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/capeofstorm/pseuds/capeofstorm
Summary: Two days after meeting with Jack over Alex's grave, Yassen returns home.
Relationships: Yassen Gregorovich/Alex Rider
Series: The Beat of Disillusion [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1886632
Comments: 3
Kudos: 55





	Take Me Out (And Take Me Home)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [abrandnewboom](https://archiveofourown.org/users/abrandnewboom/gifts), [fElBiTeR](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fElBiTeR/gifts).



> This story takes place after The Beat of Disillusion; it might make more sense if you read that first.
> 
> Title from Taylor Swift. 
> 
> To Mina and Fel because happy endings should be celebrated <3

Yassen made sure his steps echoed up the stairs of the front garden, down the path, and inside the house. It felt jarring, being this loud when he was used to silence but he didn’t want a repeat of the last time he forgot what he was dealing with.

He set down his carry-on bag in the hallway, listening for any sounds from inside the house. Only silence greeted him.

He took off his light jacket, hung it on the hook, slipped off his shoes and socks, enjoying the feeling of cool tiles on his overheated feet. He bundled the socks into the shoes, left to be dealt with later. 

The living room was empty, as was the kitchen. He made his way to the back garden, and sure enough, someone was there. Yassen purposefully walked on the bits of gravel, the crunching sound loud enough to wake the dead.

“Welcome back,” Alex said, turning his head to look at him. He was in the sun chair, his skin turning golden from the sun. Still, Yassen could see the ashy greyness in it, the dark circles under Alex’s eyes. He reached out to trace them with his fingers.

“You haven’t been sleeping,” he observed, cupping his hand over Alex’s cheek, his thumb stroking in a soothing motion.

“Not since you left, no.”

“Nightmares?”

Alex shrugged. “Wasn’t sure if you’d be back.”

Yassen sighed softly and sat on the sun chair next to Alex. He opened his arms and Alex scrambled into his lap, hiding his face in Yassen’s neck, Yassen’s grabbing his knees and swinging them over his legs, so that Alex was resting across his lap, held securely.

“I told you I would,” he murmured into Alex’s hair, resting his cheek on it, luxuriating in the feeling of softness against his skin. To think that he could have lost this before they even had the chance to start…

“Yeah, well, nothing is ever certain in our line of work, huh?” 

Yassen held Alex closer, tighter, squeezing him hard enough to steal his breath. 

“Did you miss me, little scorpling?”

Alex’s hand reached to fist in his shirt, pulling the material tight enough to make it strain around his shoulders. 

“Did you see her?” Alex’s voice was barely a whisper.

“Yes. And the postcard you sent her. I had wondered why she wanted to meet.” 

Yassen had been angry, then resigned when he spotted the postcard Jack had brought with her to the cemetery and he realised that Alex had been in contact with her.

“You said no phone calls or emails. You didn’t say anything about the post,” Alex mumbled into his shoulder. “And I sent it to her best friend. I knew she would get it, without MI6 knowing.”

“You couldn’t have known for sure. Was risking our lives worth it?”

Alex stiffened in his arms, pulled away until he faced him.

“It’s _Jack_ , Yassen. She’s the only family I have,” Alex spat out. His eyes were blazing, anger bringing colours to his cheeks.

Yassen carded his fingers through Alex’s hair, gripping it at the roots. He didn’t pull, didn’t move his hand, simply held Alex there, grounding him.

“You know that’s not true anymore, Alex.”

Alex relaxed a bit, tilting his head forward, his eyes closing at the sensation of his hair being pulled. Alex dug his fingers into Yassen’s chest and nodded, his hair pulling with the movement.

“I couldn’t let her think I was dead. I know it would have been safer if I did but…”

“But you knew that even if they tracked us, I would have kept us safe,” Yassen finished his sentence.

“Yeah.”

Yassen nodded, releasing Alex’s hair, moving his hand to rest it at the nape of Alex’s neck. He should have expected that and a part of him did. He didn’t want to deal with the fall-out of the world finding out that Alex Rider was alive. He recognised that he was selfish enough to keep Alex away from Jack, from Britain, and his friends not because of the political backlash but because he wanted Alex safe. And the safest place Yassen knew was with him.

The things his boy did to him, Yassen mused as he pressed a kiss to Alex’s forehead. 

“I - I missed you,” Alex answered his question against his lips, leaning in to kiss him softly. “Did you miss me?”

Yassen let the kiss stay soft, fleeting presses of lips against lips, growing deeper when Alex sucked his bottom lip, grazing it with his teeth. He moved his other hand to rest on Alex’s ass, stroking it with slow, tender passes of his hand. Alex moaned into his mouth, his tongue sliding against Yassen’s with increasing urgency, his body pressing closer to Yassen’s as if he wanted to climb into his skin and never leave.

Yassen squeezed Alex’s neck, gentling their kiss. He trailed his lips across Alex’s cheek, his nose nudging Alex’s, pressed a kiss to his eyelids, the circles under his eyes. Alex tasted like salt - sweat and seawater, his skin hot from being in the sun. 

“Come to bed, Alex.”

“I - “

Yassen shook his head, his thumb caressing the back of Alex’s neck.

“We’re both knackered. I haven’t slept since I left London two days ago and you look even worse than I feel.”

Alex snorted. “You know how to make a guy feel special.”

Yassen smiled. “It’s one of my many talents.”

He lifted Alex's T-shirt, humming approvingly at the purple-green bruises on Alex's hips, bruises that would fit his hands and mouth perfectly.

"You should refresh them." Alex sounded breathy, his lips swollen with their kiss.

"Tomorrow. We both could use some sleep." Yassen brought down his hand on Alex's ass with a resounding smack, smirking when Alex caught his breath. "Hold on."

He moved his arm under Alex’s knees, his back braced by Yassen's other arm, and stood up gracefully. The last time he carried Alex like this, he wasn't sure he would have the chance to do it again. He hadn’t liked that idea.

Alex wrapped his arms around Yassen's neck, his head resting on his shoulder. He sighed, quietly.

"You came back."

Yassen hummed. "Like a bad penny."

Alex chuckled, the sound reverberating through his body and into Yassen's as they walked through the house, up the stairs to their bedroom. The window shutters were closed, blackout blinds pulled low to keep the sun out. 

Yassen set Alex down on the linen bed sheets, careful not to jostle his left shoulder too hard. It's been two months since he had shot Alex and the healing process was slow. 

He helped Alex out of his T-shirt and shorts and stripped down himself, letting Alex inspect his body, first with his eyes, then with his fingers. He laid down on his side, looking at Alex. A few more weeks of sun, physiotherapy, and consistent meals should help him fill out, lose the edges and shadows on his skin. Yassen knew it would take longer than that for the shadows in Alex’s eyes to go away.

Yassen closed his eyes as Alex pressed on the marks he left all along Yassen’s collarbones the night before Yassen left for London. An assurance, he had said, that Yassen would think about him. As if he could think about anything else.

He wrapped his fingers around Alex’s wrist, squeezing gently. His fingers trailed until they tangled with Alex’s.

“You’re safe,” he said quietly, his other arm moving to Alex’s waist, bringing him closer until he could feel Alex’s skin against his. “I’m here. Sleep.”

Alex looked at him as if he was trying to memorise Yassen’s face, before nodding and closing his eyes. Slowly, slowly, Alex’s breath evened out, his eyes moving beneath his eyelids.

“Of course I missed you, Лучик,” he murmured into Alex’s skin.

It took him a while to fall asleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Лучик - little ray, little sunbeam


End file.
